An afternoon with Ellen Sussman

Today I had the pleasure of attending a luncheon with Ellen Sussman, author of the recently published novel, French Lessons (Ballantine, 2011). Ellen is on tour for French Lessons and was kind enough to stop in Chicago to discuss her new book, writing, and the juicy bits of both.

What better place to hold an author event than a French restaurant, especially when the author just published a novel set in Paris.

Eighty-five people attended the event. I showed up alone, but was quickly adopted by a couple of women and fellow Francophiles. Ellen sat at the table next to ours, but since she circulated around all nine tables, I was able to talk to her for several minutes while she signed a couple copies of her book.

After a three-course lunch (gazpacho, chicken salad, and tiramisu cake), Ellen read from French Lessons (she chose the prelude to a spicy part, but didn’t give anything away for the people who hadn’t read her book yet) and spoke a little about how she found the idea for French Lessons.

To conclude, she signed more books. Although she’d already signed my books, I queued up to take this photo with her.

It was a delightful afternoon. If only I could do this every day!